Toe protecting device and method of making the same



- 1, 1944. M. J. PATTERSON 2,354,170

TOE PROTECTING DEVICE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Oct. 9, 1942INVENTOR. 111mb: e Jane al/arm arrow/m Patented Aug. 1, 1944 UNITEDSTATE TOE PROTECTING DEVICE AND METHOD O'F MAKING THE SAlVIE Maisie JanePatterson, ch p l Hill, N. 0. Application October 9, 1942, Serial No.461,367

Claims.

This invention relates to a device or appliance to be applied to andworn on the toes of the foot to serve as a protecting shield or shieldsas well as a pad or cushion for the toes, and while the invention isparticularly adapted for preventing the developing of soft corns at theside of a toe, or prevent the irritation of such a corn by thefrictional rubbing action of an adjacent toe upon the corn and relievepressure upon such a corn, and to prevent frictional rubbing actionbetween the under portion of the first joint of the big toe and shoewith the possibility of developing a callus on such portion of said toe,as well as prevent the developing of corns on the upper portion of anyof the toes and the outside of the little toe, or prevent irritation ofsuch corns by the rubbing action of a shoe thereon and relieve anypressure of the shoe on such corns, it is also adapted to preventirritation of sores, such as cracks between toes, as in athletes foot,by the frictional rubbing action of one toe against another toe.

It is the object of the invention to provide an improved device orappliance of this character to constitute a protecting shield and pad orcushion for the toes of the foot, which is adapted to be applied andworn simultaneously on all of the toes, or a portion or portions thereofmay be applied to and Worn upon one or more toes to prevent frictionalrubbing action between the toes and development of soft corns orirritation of such corns and relieve the pressure of an adjacent toe onsuch a corn, as well as prevent frictional rubbing action of a. shoe onthe upper and under sides of the toes and the development of corns or acallus on said portions of the toes, or irritation of such corns, and toprovide a device or appliance of this character adapted to be readilyapplied to and removed from the toes of either foot, and which issanitary and comfortable in use as Well as simple and inexpensive toconstruct.

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this applicationFigure 1 is a plan view of a sheet or web of a suitable fabric fromwhich the toe protecting shield is constructed.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the sheet or web ShOlWIl. in Figure 1 andshowing a successive step in the construction of the protecting shield.

Figure 3 is a view looking at the end of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the toe pro,-

shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot with the toeprotecting shield shown in Figure 4 applied to the toes thereof.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the toe protecting shield withportions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the big, the littleand the middle toes of the foot.

Figure '7 is a perspective View of the toe portion of a foot showing theprotecting shield'shown in Figure 6 applied to the big, the little andthe middle toes thereof.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the toe protecting shield withportions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the middle andlittle toes.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot showing theprotecting shield of Figure 8 applied to the middle and little toes.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot showingportions of the toe protecting shield applied to the toes adjacent thebig and little toes.

Figure 11 is a perspective View of the toe protecting shield withportions removed to adapt the same to be applied to the big and littletoes; and

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the toe portion of a foot with theportion of the shield shown in Figure 11 applied to the big and littletoes.

In carrying out the invention there is provided a strip or web ofsuitable fabric 13, such as sanitary bandage gauze, the opposite edgesof which preferably incline from within one end of the web in adirection toward each other to the opposite end of the web, whereby theone end I4 of the web is of less width than the opposite end I5. A layerof a suitable padding of cushioning material [6 may be applied to a.surface of the Web midway the side edges thereof, said padding orcushioning material being of a width substantially equal to one-third ofthe width of the web and of slightly less length than the web, wherebythe ends of the cushioning material terminate within the ends of theweb. While this padding or cushioning material may consist of cottonbatting, it preferably consists of a material which will not absorb orhold moisture, such as lambs wool. The opposite longitudinal marginalportions of the web are folded over onto the padding or cushioningmaterial in overlapping relation to each other, as shown at IL'andproviding a multiple ply fabric cushioning bandage. The bandage may besecured i'nfoldejd condition by suitable means, and as shown secured bylong machine stitches l8 passing through the overlapped portions of thefolded Weband the cushioning material and body of the bandage, and thuspreventing the shifting of the cushioning material and fabric onerelative to the other.

The bandage is adapted to be formed into a. toe protecting shield orshields to be applied to one or more, or all of the toes of either theright or left foot. For this purpose, as shown in Figure 4, the bandageis arranged with a series of toe protecting shields, said shields beingfive in number equal to the number of toes of a foot, as a, b, c, d ande.

To arrange or form.

the bandage with said toe protecting shields the opposite end portionsof the bandage are folded upon themselves to one side of the bandage tobody of the bandage to form eyes, and constituting the toe protectingshields a and e adapted to be engaged upon the big and little toes,respectively. The bandage is then arranged with the loops or eyes toconstitute the toe protecting shields b, c and d to be engaged upon thetoes intermediate the big and little toes, and are formed by foldingsuccessive equidistantly spaced portion of the bandage intermediate theloops a and e to loop form and said loop portions secured at the foldsor juncture thereof with the body of the bandage, as by short machinestitches. The loops or eyes are made of different sizes to fit differentsizes of toes, the loop 11 adapted to be engaged upon the big toe beinglarger than the loop e to be engaged upon the little toe, and theintermediate loops b, c and d to be engaged upon the toes intermediatethe big and little toes being of larger size than the loo e to beengaged upon the little toe and smaller than the loop a to be engagedupon the big toe.

As shown in Figure 5 the device may be ap-' plied to all of the toes ofa foot to prevent frictional rubbing action between the toes and thepossibility of thereby developing soft corns at the sides of the toes,or to relieve the pressure of a toe on a soft corn on an adjacent toe orirritation of such a corn. The portions of the toe protecting shieldsengaging over the top of the toes prevents frictional rubbing actionbetween said portion of the toes and a shoe with the possibility ofdeveloping corns on said portion of the toes, and also serves to relievethe pressure of a shoe on a corn on said portion of the toes, or theirritation of such a corn. The portion of the shield a engaging the side.and ball of the big toe prevents frictional rubbing action between saidportions of the big toe and a shoe with the possibility of developing a'callus on said portions of the big toe, or may serve to relieve thepressure of the shoe on such a callus. The toe protecting shields mayalso serve as a cushion for infected portions of the toe, such as cracksbetween the toes in athlete's foot. Also the shield connecting portionsof the bandage produce in effect a continuous band below the toes whichserves to keep the toes in place and an aid in the circulation of theblood through the toes. It will be obvious that the toe protectingshields may serve as carriers for a medicament applied thereto and to bedisposed relative to an infected part or parts of the toes, or theshields may serve to hold a medicament carrier, such as a disk-of thinmaterial having a medicament applied thereto, to an infected part of thetoes.

As shown in Figures 6 to 12, inclusive, the

bandage is adapted to be arranged with only certain of the toeprotecting shields to be applied to only predetermined toes of a foot.To arrange the bandage with three toe protecting shields, as shown inFigure 6, to be engaged upon the big, the middle and the little toes, asshown in Figure 7, the toe protecting shields b and d are severed fromthe bandage so that it is arranged only with the shields a, c and e. Toarrange the bandage with shields to be engaged only upon the little andmiddle toes, as shown in Figure 9, the portion of the bandage with theshields a and band the shield d are severed from the bandage whereby thebandage will be arranged only with the shields c and e, as shown inFigure 8. To arrange the bandage with only the shields b and d to beapplied to the toes in termediate the middle and the big and littletoes, as shown in Figure 10, the portions of the bandage constitutingthe shields a, c and e are severed therefrom. To arrange the bandagewith only the shields a'and e to be applied to the big and little toes,as shown in Figure 12, the portions of the bandage constituting theshields b, c and d being severed from the bandage, as shown in Figure11. If desired the bandage may be arranged with two or more toeprotecting shields. For instance, the bandage may be provided with threetoe protecting shields to be applied to the big, the middle and thelittle toes, as shown in Figure '7. Or it may be provided with two toeprotecting shields to be applied to the middle and little toes, as shownin Figure 9, or the big and little toes, as shown in Figure 12. Also oneof the protecting shields may be engaged upon two or more toes, such asthe little toe and the adjacent toe or on any other two adjacent toes.

Various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement inthe parts of the toe protecting shield, and portions may be used withoutothers without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a toe protecting device, an elongated bandage consisting of afabric web folded longitudinally upon itself, cushioning materialinterposed between the folded portions of the fabric web, said fabricweb with the interposed cushioning material having successive portions,spaced from each other, arranged to closed loop form extending laterallyfrom the same side of the bandage, the portions of said bandage betweenand connecting the loop portions forming a continuous band, each of saidloop portions being adapted to surround a toe of a foot with the loopconnecting portions disposed below the toes.

2. In a toe protecting device, an elongated fabric bandage ofprogressively decreasing width from one end to the opposite end and of awidth less than the length of the toes of a foot and foldedlongitudinally upon itself, and cushioning material interposed betweenthe folds of the fabric, said bandage having the opposite end portionsand successive spaced portions intermediate the ends arranged to closedloop form and the portions of the bandage between and connecting theloop portions forming a continuous band, each of said loop portionsadapted to surround a toe of a foot with said portions of the bandage,

between and connecting the loop portions, disposed below the toes andadapted to hold the toes in predetermined position.

3. In a toe protecting device, an elongated fabric web having theopposite longitudinal marginal portions turned inwardly upon theintermediate portion of the web, and cushioning material interposedbetween the inwardly turned and intermediate portions of the web, theopposite end portions and spaced portions, intermediate the ends, andthe web being arrange to closed loop form, and each of said 100pportions being adapted to surround a toe of a foot with the portionsbetween and connecting the loop portions disposed below and adapted tohold the toes in predetermined position.

4. In a toe protecting device, a bandage consisting of an elongatedfabric web having the opposite longitudinal marginal portions turnedinwardly upon the intermediate portion of the web, cushioning materialinterposed between the intermediate portion and said inwardly turnedportions of the web, the opposite end portions and portions intermediatethe ends of the bandage being arranged to form loop portions, and meanssecuring said loo portions together at the juncture thereof with thebody of the bandage and closing the loop portions, the portions of thebandage between and connecting the loop portions forming a continuousband, each of said loop portions being adapted to surround a toe of afoot with said portions between and connecting the loop portionsdisposed below the toes.

5. In a toe protecting device, a bandage consisting of a fabric webhaving the opposite longitudinal portions turned inwardly in overlappedrelation upon the intermediate portion of the web, a moisture resistingcushioning material interposed between the intermediate and saidinwardly turned portions of the web, means securing said overlappingportions, the cushioning material and intermediate portion of the webagainst lateral displacement, successive portions of the bandage beingarranged in loop form extending laterally from a side of the bandage andsecured at the juncture thereof with the body of the bandage, thusforming closed loops, the portions extending between said loops forminga continuous band, said loops being adapted to surround each of the toesof a foot, with the loop connecting portions of the bandage engagingbelow the toes.

MAISIE JANE PATTERSON.

